The Gambia For All (GFA) party in a press statement shared with this medium, said it strongly condemns President Adama Barrow’s Hate Speech towards lawyer Ousainou Darboe, the leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP).
According to them, this is not the first time that President Barrow has shocked the nation with his usual unrefined, undemocratic, and plainly unacceptable hate speeches, given on the spur-of-the-moment, at random political rallies throughout the country.
On each such occasion, his incompetent political advisers tried to offer untenable alternative explanations for the president’s numerous faux pas.
“Unfortunately, President Barrow’s advisers are faced with a herculean task, as the President seems unable, unwilling, or incapable of formulating rational political speeches at political rallies without these types of verbal gaffes,” said the party.
The latest outrage from the President was in Brikama, where he was heard wishing for the death and actual burial of UDP opposition leader Ousainou Darboe. This has really gone far beyond the pale of acceptable political discourse. For a democratically elected leader of a country, to say that he will not relinquish power unless he sees the main opposition party leader “dead and buried ” is indeed a big threat to national security.
Instead of addressing the multiple crises that The Gambia faces, which includes the unbearable high cost of living for the great majority of Gambians, the menace of dangerous drugs and drug traffickers infiltrating all sectors of our society, the tragic plight of our youths perishing in the Mediterranean Sea, and the daily reports of unbelievable government corruption scandals; the President offers no hope to Gambians, except an escalation of personal and useless political attacks on his opponents.
GFA strongly condemns the President’s hate speech, because we believe that on the Richter scale of political demagoguery, this is higher than the “bury six feet deep” speech that transformed former dictator Yahya Jammeh from a “soldier with a difference” to the killing monster that he later became.
It is important to remind all Gambian political leaders their words, especially what they utter at political rallies and elsewhere, matter. Each political leader has a portion of the Gambian population that supports and follows him/her. Making this type of hateful rhetoric, sows seeds of hatred and potential conflict in our country. Politics should be about ideas that can significantly change the livelihood of ordinary Gambians for the better, rather than hate speech which has no place in our democracy.
We appeal to all Gambians and to President Barrow in particular, that his perceived fratricidal war (TURUBANG KELLO) with his former allies, should be abandoned in exchange for good and progressive ideas that will help develop our country and transform the lives of her citizens.
In a press release from the United Democratic Party’s (UDP) Media and Communication Team has said it has on behalf of the general membership of the United Democratic Party condemned in the ‘strongest’ possible terms, President Barrow’s recent remarks at the inauguration of an NPP Bureau at Brikama, West Coast Region.
The statement read: “On Saturday, July 27, 2024, while inaugurating a Political Party Bureau in Brikama, the President stated to a cheering audience that he will remain President until Mr. Ousainou Darboe’s death.
The said labeled the president’s remarks as hate speech and a threat to the life and well-being of Ousainou Darboe. “His Excellency Ousainou Darboe is a family man with children and grandchildren who adore him and wish to have him in their midst as long as possible. Mr. Darboe is aware of the comments, and as a man of faith, he would like his supporters to remain calm, that he believes that he has no power over what God has destined for him and prays that when the inevitable comes, that it comes at a time when his Lord is most pleased with him.
“It is our collective responsibility as citizens, but more so as leaders, to appeal to the best versions of those we seek to lead. This responsibility is even greater on the President, in whom many have reposed trust to preside over the nation’s affairs.
“It is unfortunate that the President, who recently presided over a national dialogue, would stoop so low as to reveal such vile desires that should not reside even in the farthest recesses of one’s innermost thoughts, much less be uttered in public to cheers and applause.
The statement further criticized the President for his failure in his basic leadership.
“Instead of being a unifying figure, he seeks to fuel resentment. Instead of focusing on policies that impact the lives and well-being of the citizens, he seeks to focus on personalities in a vengeful way.
The statement urged the president to withdraw his statement and apologise to the Gambian people. “As we head for 2026, remarks like this are incendiary and could spark political violence at a time when nations are at their most vulnerable. We demand that the President tones down his rhetoric and demands a full retraction and an apology to the Gambian people in general for consistently reducing the nation’s highest office into disrepute. And calls on the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to engage the President on this unstatesman-like conduct.”
